Futures platforms for prop firms: Rithmic, Tradovate, NinjaTrader and ProjectX

How futures differ from CFD platforms

A CFD prop firm usually runs a broker style platform such as MT5 or cTrader. A futures firm works with exchange traded contracts, so it needs real exchange market data, a way to route simulated orders against that data, and risk rules measured in ticks and contracts. Traders also tend to arrive with a favorite front end. That is why futures firms often combine an infrastructure layer with one or more trading platforms.

Rithmic

Rithmic provides trading infrastructure for futures. Its page for funding evaluators describes a server-side risk management system that sits between the exchange and every platform a firm's traders use. Rules run inside Rithmic's infrastructure, so they still apply when a trader's platform disconnects. Rithmic lists more than ten auto-liquidation criteria, such as a minimum account balance and a loss limit, and says every liquidation is logged for an end-of-day report.

Rithmic also connects to many third-party front ends. Its compatible platforms list includes NinjaTrader, ATAS, Bookmap, MotiveWave and others, so traders can often keep the software they know.

Tradovate and NinjaTrader

Tradovate and NinjaTrader both belong to NinjaTrader Group, per the footer of the Tradovate Prop site. Tradovate Prop is a cloud platform with TradingView integration, risk controls, group trading and access on mobile, web and desktop. NinjaTrader Prop lets a trader keep one workspace across several prop firms, on desktop, web and mobile, with custom indicators and automated strategies.

Neither site publishes how a new prop firm becomes a partner, so access starts with a conversation with the vendor. Separately, NinjaTrader Group offers NinjaTrader Connect, brokerage infrastructure with a white label web platform, aimed in part at prop and evaluation firms expanding into brokerage. That is a different product from the prop platforms.

ProjectX

ProjectX was built as a futures platform licensed to prop firms. In November 2025, Finance Magnates reported that ProjectX told third-party firms it would end its third-party service and that the platform would become exclusive to Topstep. A 2026 overview from ForTraders says Topstep has held exclusive distribution rights since November 2025 and runs the engine under its own TopstepX brand. We found no published ProjectX pricing. Confirm availability directly before you plan on it.

Market data costs

Real-time futures market data carries exchange fees on top of the platform. Our calculator budgets them per active account. Ask each vendor whether data fees are included in their price or passed through to you, and whether traders pay them directly.

Strengths and trade-offs

• Server-side risk. Enforcing rules at the infrastructure layer, as Rithmic describes, means a disconnected trader is still held to your rules.
• Front end choice. Traders who can use their own platform may be easier to win. More front ends also mean more combinations to test.
• Private pricing. All four price prop firm deals privately, so you need written quotes.
• Concentration risk. ProjectX shows how quickly third-party access can end. Ask every vendor about notice periods and data export.

Questions to ask each vendor

• Is your platform available to new prop firms today, and under what agreement?
• What do you charge per active account, and is there a setup fee or a monthly minimum?
• Are exchange data fees included or passed through?
• Which of my rules, such as trailing drawdown, end of day drawdown and daily loss, run server-side?
• Which CRMs already integrate with you?
• What notice do you give before ending service, and can I export all data?

What it costs

These are estimates, since none of the four publish prop firm pricing. Rithmic is an estimated $10 to $25 per active account a month. Tradovate Prop is an estimated $5 to $25 per active account a month, and NinjaTrader an estimated $5 to $25 per active account a month. ProjectX was an estimated $5 to $25 per active account a month while it was available to third parties. Market data and exchange fees add an estimated $4.65 to $41 per active account a month. The table on this page shows each source. For a full budget, use the launch cost calculator.

Where Prop Firm Studios fits

Prop Firm Studios does not build trading technology and has no partnership with any of these vendors. On the Full Scale plan, we help a client choose a platform (for CFD firms, MT5 (through a license holder), cTrader, Match-Trader, TradeLocker or DXtrade; for futures firms, Rithmic, Tradovate, NinjaTrader or ProjectX), then set up and integrate the providers they choose, with the CRM, payments and KYC around them. The client pays each provider directly. For CFD and futures in one platform, see DXtrade. For the full picture, see the tech stack overview and how to start a prop firm in 2026.